Apple is testing HIAA OLED drilling to minimize the iPhone 18 Pro front camera cutout, hinting at sleeker Dynamic Island, improved cooling, and 2026 launch.
© E. Vartanyan
Apple is testing a new camera miniaturization approach that could shrink the front camera cutout on upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models, according to Chinese tipster Digital Chat Station.
The company is said to be experimenting with a display manufacturing method called HIAA (hole-in-active-area), developed by Samsung and others. The technique places the camera within the active area of an OLED panel rather than carving out extra space. It relies on laser micro-drilling to create a tiny opening inside the working surface, trimming the camera aperture to the bare minimum.
The same source previously indicated that Apple was weighing HIAA alongside under-display Face ID and even considering moving the selfie camera to the top-left corner of the screen. The latest leak does not clarify whether the iPhone 18 Pro will keep a downsized Dynamic Island or switch to a standalone camera element.
Beyond a tighter cutout, the iPhone 18 Pro is expected to feature a variable-aperture lens, a transparent section in the ceramic glass around the MagSafe zone, and a battery housed in steel—rumored to tie into a vapor-chamber cooling system. Taken together, the changes suggest a push for cleaner visuals and more thermal headroom without straying from Apple’s familiar playbook.
As for timing, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are expected in September 2026, arriving alongside a new iPhone Air and a foldable iPhone. The standard iPhone 18 and the iPhone 18e could follow later, in spring 2027, as part of Apple’s split launch strategy.